(READ THIS FIRST: THIS IS THE AWARD FOR PLAYERS OF FFS FRIENDLY WORLD CUP ONLY AND DOES NOT INCLUDE PEOPLE FROM THE EURO CUP! THERE HAS BEEN A SEPARATE AWARD FOR THAT. THANK YOU.)The quarter-finals were a time for heroes. Heroes at the front and back. Not to forget those in the middle, too, as you’ll see. The 4 quarter-finals produced 4 clean sheets and 9 goals, though this doesn’t tell the whole story as 6 goals were in one crazy game. It was the surprise goalscorers for the big guns that decided this award.I judged the award by the rules posted here. http://uefaffs.weebly.com/7/po.....alour.html

To recap:

A “successful gamble” is defined as a single player choice that returns an unexpectedly high number of points. The awards will be given on these criteria:- Underappreciation- Overachievement- Underdog team- Captaincy

So first, the honourable mentions.

- Teddy was alone in choosing the priciest of the Spanish defenders. Perhaps in recognition of this, he also captained Sergio Ramos (6×2 points) who survived the 90 minutes without conceding. Fair play to him.- Shiptsontrev and Aatish went for the heroic pick of Hart (8 points) who lasted not just 90 but 120 minutes without conceding a goal, making a hatful of saves in the process. No-one knows how the Italians didn’t score. I know they declined the 20p I offered them, and I wasn’t prepared to stump up the Action Man Accessory Kit Mario wanted.- Emperikal and Catmac could well have won the award on another week with their leftfield pick of Khedira (8 points). With Khedira conventionally thought to be the least advanced of German midfielders, he displayed fearsome attacking potential against Greece, charging into the box time and time again and scoring a disallowed goal if I recall correctly. Given a second chance, he smashed home an unstoppable volley to come through as the joint second-highest scoring midfielder this week.

And now for the winner:- James_Fitz buried Shirokov’s ghost in a stunning captaincy of Xabi Alonso (C) (14×2 points). Xabi was the highest scoring player of the gameweek by 5 points and delivered a stunning on-pitch performance which outshone his compatriots both in real and fantasy terms. James_Fitz wins a can of whoop-ass to replace the one he just opened.

Congratulations to James_Fitz and thanks to everyone for another fantastic Matchday. As the quarter-finals end, we remind you all that we continue to consider all teams, eliminated or not. So be bold, be brave and captain Alba. (Sorry 4Vets.)